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Knox brought a metal wagon to us and rested it on the ground. “Need help, old man?”
“I’m younger than you—”
“Ah. Ah. Ah. You can’t swear anymore. There are too many women and kids around.”
Heath maneuvered the tree onto the wagon. “Who would have thought just a few years ago that this would be our lives?”
It was two brothers sharing a moment, and it caused my heart to swell. Heath thought he was the lucky one to be with me, to have what his brothers had. My breath caught in my throat.
“It’s better than anything I could have imagined. I thought we’d be bachelors forever.” Knox clasped his shoulder, then moved to Ireland and Emmett, who’d claimed a tree nearby.
When Knox moved back to the field to help the others, I asked, “Do you really think that everything is perfect this year?”
Heath’s expression softened as he moved toward me. “I want you to love me back, but I won’t rush you. I know it will happen with time.”
“What did I do to deserve you?”
He leaned close and said, “You didn’t have to do anything. You’re worthy because you are.”
I was? I didn’t need to prove myself to my clients or friends or Heath and his family. It was a different concept. One I wasn’t used to.
His finger touched my chin, lifting it so my gaze met his. “You just have to believe it.”
“That’s the hard part.”
He lifted his hands. “Is it? Look around you at the evidence. You have a successful business.”
“Yeah, that one is easy.” I could see the money coming in; that was validation for me.
“You fit in with my family, and they love you.”
They never made me feel as if I didn’t fit in. That was my worries and anxieties that came up.
“You’re friends with Ireland.”
I felt like I was friends with Sarah and could be friends with Hanna, too. But wasn’t that because I was here with Heath?
“You earned that on your own. If my family didn’t like you, they wouldn’t treat you like you belonged. They wouldn’t be mean to you, but they’d let me know that you weren’t right for me. And trust me, that hasn’t happened. Everyone loves you.”
Everyone loves me. It was such a foreign concept when I grew up feeling like no one did, or it was just Gram and Aiden on my side.
I wanted everything I’d thought of in the cab earlier. I wanted a future with Heath. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now, let’s get this tree on the truck so we can take it home and decorate it.”
I followed behind him as he pushed the cart toward the lane.
Talon must have stopped at the barn to pick up the machine that did something to the bottom of the trees. “I figured you didn’t need to wrap it.”
Talon helped Heath attach it to the machine. “You think it’s ready to go up tonight?”
“I think you can. Eager to get your tree up?”
“We both are. This Christmas feels different.” When the machine turned off, Heath heaved the tree over his shoulder and dumped it into the bed of the truck.
I knew what he meant. I was filled with hope and anticipation in a way I never had been before. My parents didn’t buy me things for Christmas. I didn’t wake up in the morning with presents under the tree. When I was little, Aiden and Gran snuck things under the tree until my parents found out. They didn’t want us to be spoiled. As if I could have been with them as parents.
“You want to decorate it tonight?” Heath asked me, his expression filled with excitement.
